Bear's bangers: Boxing, clever? A Volvo XC is the perfect car for living in a Cross Country...

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, Bear said:

Bingo - that's exactly it, UK models have a different format for manufacturer and model to JDM and elsewhere. So if I ask for the first six digits that will nail it for sure – thankyou!

Awesome that should be worth a punt I say  , you will have to know what those six digits are, a DVLA clerk (unless they are by happenstance an RX7 buff), are not going to know what the digits are, and I would make sure to word you FOI so that it does not appear that your trying to ask for information from any one vehicle record, and if it does not add too much complication if you can make sure its clear that you want statistics of how many vehicles where *ever* registered with the DVLA, not just not those currently SORN or Taxed

 and of course worth keeping in mind that if this works, it will still only get you the number of cars ever registered with the *DVLA* if there where any that where not registered with them for some reason, or say some went to the channel islands, then those will be absent from the number, but if its a case of trying to figure out "is it 124 or 210" and the DVLA say "we see 206 cars on our database" then that will tell you still its more then likely 210 rather then 124!

[Bear]

Yep, I think if I can go with the UK VIN manufacturer/model (which is the first set of digits and unique to UK models and all one string - I'd just disregard year of build and serial) then if some slipped through, that's not a worry.

If I can, I'll ask number of Mazda RX-7s with VIN JMZFD13Bxxxxxxxx or whatever (I'll check what it is) registered between 1992 and 1998, which should mop up the actual dealer cars but avoid re=imports, then 'ever registered' and 'how many remain' if that doesn't overcomplicate it. And it's probably wrong to say UK spec, but Euro spec and RHD - and that may be the discrepancy, maybe 210 Euro RHD ones were made, maybe 124 sold in the UK.

[Bear]

Oh, look, a parcel.

Needs a wash

Needs fuel pipes...

Needs a low coolant sensor (I broke the wire)

Much cleaner. Oh, and running.

[Bear]

Mostly I wanted to run it up to temp with the coolant flush in, so it needed to be out of the garage. But it started very easily on an underspec battery, so I'm not worried about compression, and there's no white smoke or other untoward stuff going on.

It does need more work, but I couldn't resist turning it around before putting it away.

I have located an MX5 plate holder

Pop up lights are for winners

[Christine]

Brilliant! 

[Zelandeth]

Looks good!

I really need to try something rotary one day.  

From what I remember from a friend who had an RX8 obsession a few years ago, it's hot starts which tend to show up wear/compression issues on their engines at least rather than cold.  

Jap stuff rarely really interests me for the most part, but I do rather like that.

[Bear]

Ring doorbell camera messages are weird.

"Box detected on Drive"

I thought it would say package 🤔

[Bear]

Fair. There is a box on my drive.

How did it get here?

Many thanks to @BritChod for dropping it off and tolerating my complete brainfart trying to navigate to the train station!

It looks very promising, my expectations for an £800 banger or £800 Volvo are already exceeded because it went over some familiar potholes and I barely noticed.

I do like the face on these. I've not really had much experience with them.

This end will be very useful.

I like the Sweden sticker. I'm baffled by the three screws /through/ the plate holder though!

Really does look like a straight old bus, so mechanical maladies - if they appear - won't be wasted repairs.

Big face though. Need to move cars around the driveway.

Fancy. Looks useful.

Being reluctant to throw stuff away comes in handy, too...

I had these spare. Perfect fit and matching brands, almost too posh!

This is the perfect car for driving in 21st century Britain though. It's becoming very apparent we live in a 

[Bear]

Because the HR-V's new owner caught the bank on a bad day, they used an alternative binding strip for the cash...

I've now doubled the XC70's value.

Here. This bit.

[Zelandeth]

I have tyre profile envy.  The 17" wheels and 45 profile tyres are the one thing I'd happily change about my V70.

[Bear]

17 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

I have tyre profile envy.  The 17" wheels and 45 profile tyres are the one thing I'd happily change about my V70.

I think they made the first job the car had to do actually tolerable - V-drums to Hucknall. Blindfold someone and drive them down the A608 and A611 and you could probably convince them you'd taken them to 1980s Lebanon. In fact in much of Nottingham, where there used to be some shops...

The actual tyres are less good, they're pretty scrubbed. So the car's copybook for the first 24 hours is:

Broken things - very, very few indeed. One piece of speaker trim, no lights on the radio buttons, a small tear on the driver's seat. It's held up amazingly well for 20 years and 233,000 miles. The wiper blades are aero but horrible so I'm binning them for Bosch ones, but that's normal behaviour for me.

The RTI pop-up navigation thing works but can't read the disc, so I can't visit 2008 England. Shame. However, the display pops up and drops down, and while the LCD is tired AF and has ghosts of menus past to haunt me, it's the perfect frame for a VolvoPi or whatever the kit is. Because yes, there is a custom board to interface a Raspberry Pi to a Volvo's LINbus or whatever it's called, and use the RTI display for Pi-hosted in car tech. As long as the car doesn't crap itself mechanically, that'll be happening.

Driving - a bit sluggish off the mark, and there's a fair amount of intake noise. I think it's missing some sound insulation on the driver's side or there's a pipe amiss, so I'll do some checking. Gears are smooth, it coasts and drops into neutral at lights so is VERY easy to drive in town, and no odd noises or flaring/shuddering. Sweet.

There's some wheelbearing or diff noise, and the steering is quite heavy – I'm not sure it should be THAT heavy at low speeds, but I also don't care. These are prone to rack leaks and big bills in that area, I believe. Also not sure the alignment is very good given the scrubbed tyres, maybe something needs a kick.

Body - I've washed it, with a sponge, and I can't see anything of concern. Can't even see any windscreen damage, which I may be missing due to not putting contacts in to check, but it's not bad.

The headlights might need something reconnecting, the really bad rippled road made them shake - but they're very good.

Lesson learned - don't put two roof bars right next to each other at the back of the car unless they're designed to work like a spoiler, like a Jeep Cherokee. These are not designed like that. My ears hate me.

For the money, it's a brilliant old Volvo. I suspect buying a £2500-5000 'nice' used one would merely accomplish needing the same sort of maintenance such as bearings or whatever, but on a car that was too expensive to walk away from. And even if I do need to poke about in the engine bay sometimes, it's very clean in there.

[leafsprung]

The steering will always be ponderous at low speeds or on windy roads. They are much better on fast roads.  The rack issue is well known and amplifies any slack in TREs. Scrubbed tyres are the norm. If it hasn't had them then the subframe inserts are worth doing as they do tighten the front up a touch and are an easy job.